Efficacy of an Emotional Disclosure Intervention in HIV

The specific objective of this study are to examine whether or not a treatment aimed at emotional disclosure may have beneficial psychological, health and immune effects for HIV infected individuals. The goal of the current study is to test the efficacy of emotional disclosure through writing in patients with HIV infection. We will compare emotional disclosure through writing about traumatic experiences (experimental intervention) to a control intervention (writing about emotionally neutral topics). [Note that HIV RNA viral load, CD4 T cells, urinary cortisol, health related dysfunction, psychological distress, and medication adherence are the 6 primary outcome variables.